100!

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We have issued ourselves a challenge…connect with 100 neighbors in 100 days! Truly connect! Learn his/her name, find out what he/she enjoys, swap stories of our spiritual heritages, and gather follow-up information. Our missional community is growing, we are meeting new neighbors at each of our monthly theme parties in our home, and God is prompting us to reach out even farther and connect even deeper. We know all too well that the spiritual warfare may be intense for these 100 days, but we believe God fights for us and will use this challenge in big ways! Please commit to pray for us specifically once a day, from Jan 26-May 5! If you’ve adopted a street in Lowry, pray specifically for the residents there, like never before! Many will be reached in this time! May His Kingdom grow and multiply and may Lowry see His light and His love in us!

DNA

dna-strandEveryone is born with miles of information that define their way their body is put together.  DNA contains all the vital information for cellular replication, and the intricate organs and systems of the body that allow life to be sustained.  DNA sets the stage for existence and life.

DNA is just as vital in a church.  The DNA identifies the purpose, the direction and the mission.  As we begin meeting with others in our Missional Community, we seek to replicate the DNA that God has placed in us over the past few years.  God has impressed upon that our church be focused on Knowing the Master, Mimicking His Ways, and Apprenticing others.  We desire to make disciple makers.  We practice and communicate these foundations that God has placed in us as our DNA and help others to take hold of them and move forward in the direction that God has for us to carry out the mission He has called us here to accomplish.

 

It’s time!

It’s time! Time for what, you say? Time for God to build His Kingdom here in Lowry! You may hear me squealing, no matter how far away you live! After having a mission team on the ground with us in Denver for a week, we’ve met enough folks interested in being part of Journeymen Church and gathering for Bible study and worship and service, that it is time! Praise God that very soon, we will begin hosting a weekly shared meal and Bible study, prayer and worship time in our home. We now know a few Christians in Lowry and we know God placed us all here for His glory and to help build His Kingdom! We will likely be hosting 2 different weekly gatherings with different groups, but more on that soon!
I’m studying Galatians in my quiet time and it is rich! I’m having to digest it very slowly and really pray for it to sink deep into my heart and spirit. So far, God is continually leading me into relationship with people much different than myself. He is stretching me way out of my comfort zone and my norm. He is breaking down walls and changing my perceptions to be more like His! Oh, that our family and the people of Lowry would get past the differences, look to Christ and be lovers of all people, knowing we all need grace and mercy daily! May our home and Journeymen Church reflect Christ and believe that we are all one in Christ Jesus! Pray, folks! Please pray! The attacks of the enemy are numerous as God begins to move in this neighborhood. Pray we will run with endurance and not grow weary and that the harvest will be plentiful! Get excited with us, because it is time!!

Thinking like a Missionary

If you were to ask me a year ago about what church planting would look like, I would have given you a much different answer than I would today. My idea of church planting was mostly about the service and quickly gathering people to fill a space and to meet the budget, so that your church could be self sustaining. But this past year has challenged me to think more like a missionary in a community and not so much about programing, people for number’s sake or budget needs. The Kingdom of God,along with disciple making, must be the focus. Part of this shift in thinking is the context and other parts are what God has been showing me about the church, discipleship, mission, and the Kingdom.

Missional Communities will be the driving force in our church. These are groups of people who do life together, intentionally spend time with non-believers, minister in the community around them, and share meals and bible study regularly. These groups are messy, relationship driven, intergenerational, and outwardly focused. (As I type this, it excites me to think of the people we will meet, minister to and with, and the impact we will make in Lowry and beyond because of groups like these.) We will gather together for worship and we will have children’s programs, to some extent. But our main focus will be building a community of disciple makers. We want to not just think like missionaries; we want to live like missionaries.